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I imagine most Americans would agree with the concept of shared sacrifice for a better future. Agreeing is the easy part; the hard part is actually sacrificing so that we can give our children a better country.

When CNN’s Piers Morgan interviewedChicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, three things stood out to me about Emanuel: First, the erstwhile Obama aide has a passion for our nation as a land of opportunity. Second, he articulated a belief that we need to allow our kids to fail, so that they know how to work hard. And, third, Emanuel spoke eloquently about how every preceding generation of Americans has sacrificed for their children and so should we.

I waited for Morgan’s follow-up question: How should we sacrifice? The question never came. Too bad.

To help illustrate the point, the same day Emanuel sat down with Morgan, the trustees for Social Security and Medicare issued their annual report on the fiscal health of the entitlement programs. It turns out the two programs are a lot less healthy than the trustees thought just a year ago. The report noted that without payroll tax increases or benefit cuts, the two programs will run out of money sooner than expected (2024 for Medicare and 2033 for Social Security). In particular, the report said: “Lawmakers should not delay addressing the long-run financial challenges facing Social Security and Medicare. If they take action sooner rather than later, more options and more time will be available to phase in changes so that the public has adequate time to prepare.”

The thing is, we’ve known that both programs have been in danger for years. Whether the money runs out in 25 or 20 years doesn’t make a difference. What matters is that Washington has had ample time to fix the situation. Yet what do we see instead?

It just so happens that the trustees issued their report on the same day I opened a solicitation from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi. The brochure warned readers that “Republicans have declared an all out war on Medicare and Social Security,” because of Rep. Paul Ryan’s modest plan to slow the growth rate of Medicare. The Ryan plan would transfer Medicare reimbursement to the states in the way of block grants so each state could assess priorities, an approach suggested under the Clinton administration.

To support this “war” characterization, the brochure quotes a few sources, including the Wall Street Journal. The quote from the Journal says that “the plan would essentially end Medicare.” But what Journal reporter Naftali Bendavid actually wrote was: “The plan would essentially end Medicare, which now pays most of the health-care bills for 48 million elderly and disabled Americans, as a program that directly pays those bills.” Quite a difference if you just quote the first third of the sentence.

But it’s not just Democrats who are playing games with our children’s future. Despite Paul Ryan’s courageous efforts, Republicans not only refuse to raise taxes, they keep promising tax cuts. In fact, the House passed a huge tax credit for small businesses.

The Obama administration and Congress have been unable to agree on even the most obvious sacrifices. We can take immediate steps now to radically improve things down the road. For example, raise the retirement age for Social Security, tighten standards for Social Security Disability Insurance, and cut mail service to five days. More, letting the Bush tax cuts expire would be a modest act of patriotism by all of us that have not served in uniform. Imagine if Democrats presented a plan to Republicans that would raise the retirement age in exchange for the expiration of the tax cuts. Or vice versa? We just need one party to give a little to put the other party in an ethical bind.

It’s true that even if this happened we wouldn’t be on sound fiscal footing. But it is a start. Sadly, neither Republicans nor Democrats are willing to discuss how we can all be patriotic, give, and sacrifice for the future of our children.

Gary Shapiro is president and CEO of the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA)®, the U.S. trade association representing more than 2,000 consumer electronics companies, and author of the New York Times bestselling book, “The Comeback: How Innovation Will Restore the American Dream.” Connect on Twitter @GaryShapiro.